1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for improving the versatility of rifles and more specifically to a forend grip configured to provide an electrical discharge weapon (i.e., TASER®) which can receive either a cartridge having wire-tethered darts or a strobe light for signaling friends or for blinding enemies.
2. Background Art
TASER®'s are weapons that can connect a disabling shock from a remote power supply to a violent assailant. The TASER® launches a pair of electrically opposed darts with trailing wires from its power supply to an assailant to connect the assailant to the supply. TASER®s have a lower lethality than conventional firearms. U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,463 was issued to Cover for the TASER® in 1974. Since that time, the TASER® has seen application in the United States as a law enforcement tool and the U.S. military has interest in the TASER® for policing actions. TASER®s are regularly used by peace officers to humanely capture suicidal or otherwise violent, even armed suspects, who are themselves victims of intoxicants, drugs and/or emotional disturbance, without serious injury to suspects, officers or bystanders.
The main problem with the TASER®, which has several tactical limitations, is that it is a discrete weapon. To be readily accessible for potential application, it must be separately holstered on the already quite limited space on a peace officer's utility belt or otherwise on the already quite limited space available for additional ordnance and weight on the person of the peace officer or soldier. Sufficient unused space to holster a TASER® may not be available. The TASER® is necessarily a relatively large side arm. The space needed to isolate the weapons' arcing high voltage circuitry. A typical TASER® is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,654,867 to Murray. At least partially for the above reasons, the TASER® has only been deployed on a limited basis by law enforcement, and the TASER® has not seen use in military policing actions. Deployment of conventional weapons could be reduced and countless lives saved and injuries avoided, if the TASER® were more convenient for peace officers to bear and, thereby, more available for their use.
Combining the TASER® with a conventional firearm can overcome the TASER®'s heretofore described storage and transport disadvantages. Several patentees, including the inventor herein, have previously attempted to combine the TASER® with conventional firearms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,815 issued to Ragner. The Ragner apparatus has proved impractical and has never been commercially manufactured. U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,199 issued to McNulty. With the current state of the art, the ammunition cartridge described therein can only be manufactured as a minimum 38 to 40 mm diameter and 8″ length cartridge and is, therefore, only suitable for discharge through the barrels of certain breech loading tear gas guns. Manufactured as the discharger cup described in the specification, the apparatus has no transport or storage advantages over discrete TASER®'s.